Your Congressman Can Now Wish You a Merry Christmas

War on Christmas? Not in the House, where members can now include holiday greetings in their constituent communications.

This is a reversal of previous policy, in which "any form of a holiday greeting was banned," House Administration Committee Chairman Candice Miller, R-Mich., said in a statement.

Miller announced the change Wednesday. "I feel it is entirely appropriate for members of Congress to include a simple holiday salutation, whether it is Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and so on," she said.

The ban had been in place since the 1970s, and it had been intended to prevent the use of taxpayer dollars to send holiday cards. Congressmen still can't do that under the new rules--the change in policy allows for the incidental use of a holiday greeting in an otherwise official communication, but they still can't use official funds for the sole purpose of wishing someone a Merry Christmas or anything of the sort.